1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic modules, and more particularly, to an electronic module having an antenna.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the rapid development of electronic industries, electronic products are developed toward the trend of multi-function and high performance. Wireless communication technologies have been widely applied in various kinds of consumer electronic products for receiving or transmitting various wireless signals. To meet the miniaturization requirement of consumer electronic products, wireless communication modules are becoming lighter, thinner, shorter and smaller. For example, patch antennas have been widely applied in wireless communication modules of electronic products such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) due to their advantages of small size, light weight and easy fabrication.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional wireless communication module. Referring to FIG. 1, the wireless communication module 1 has: a circuit board 10, a plurality of electronic elements 11 disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board 10, an antenna structure 12 formed on the circuit board 10, and an encapsulant 13. The circuit board 10 has a rectangular shape. The antenna structure 12 is of a planar type. The antenna structure 12 has an antenna body 120 and a conductive wire 121 electrically connecting the antenna body 120 and the electronic elements 11. The encapsulant 13 encapsulates the electronic elements 11 and a portion of the conductive wire 121.
However, during the fabrication process of the wireless communication module 1, the antenna body 120 of the antenna structure 12 cannot be integrally fabricated with the electronic elements 11 due to the characteristic of electromagnetic radiation between the antenna structure 12 and the electronic elements 11 and limitation of the size of the planar-type antenna structure 12. As such, the electronic elements 11 are covered by the encapsulant 13, but the antenna body 120 of the antenna structure 12 is exposed from the encapsulant 13. Therefore, the molding process for forming the encapsulant 13 needs a mold having a size corresponding to the electronic element-mounting area. Further, since the surface of the circuit board 10 needs an additional area for forming the antenna body 120 (i.e, an area where the encapsulant 13 is not to be formed), the size of the circuit board 10 and thus the size of the wireless communication module 1 are increased. Consequently, the wireless communication module 1 cannot meet the miniaturization requirement.
Furthermore, high-frequency RF chips are usually used as electronic elements 11. When they are positioned adjacent to digital chips, digital signal processors or baseband chips, electromagnetic interferences (EMIs) easily occur.
Therefore, how to overcome the above-described drawbacks has become critical.